Over the years, much technology has developed with respect to bonding involving metals. Some examples are discussed in this section, and are referred to again in the SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION section below.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,644,135 (Speyer) teaches a method of using an organometallic liquid, mixed with a strong acid, to impregnate cloth made of carbon fiber. When heated, the strong acid evaporates, leaving the organometallic material in place on the carbon fiber cloth. Upon further heating, the organometallic material decomposes, leaving only metal in place on the carbon fiber cloth. Still further heating causes the metal to react with the carbon fibers, producing carbided fibers. These carbided fibers are resistant to oxidation.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,875,616 (Nixdorf) teaches bonding ceramic to metal. The bonding layer is a preform of ceramic fibers. The preform is coated on one side with a metal matching the metal composition to be bonded, while the other side of the ceramic fiber preform is impregnated with ceramic powder of the same composition as the ceramic to be bonded. Then the preform is sandwiched and pressure bonded between the metal and the ceramic.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,980,123 (Gedeon) teaches bonding metal to metal or metal to metal matrix composites, using a thin layer of a dissimilar metal to increase the “wettability” at the bonded joint. This is essentially a welding process. No combustion reaction takes place.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,518,383 (Abiven) teaches creating metallized fibers by processing the fibers in a CVD furnace. The metallized fibers are then bonded to a metal reflective surface by diffusion welding. The Abiven process involves heating and very high pressures.
In technology that involves metal inserts situated in carbon composite parts (Such as brake discs or other components), metal inserts (e.g., made of stainless steel) built into the fiber-matrix products sometimes de-bond from the matrix, leading to failure of the composite assembly. The present invention provides a solution to this problem.